Photo: Vieve Forward · CC BY-SA 2.018% of households live in a flat, more than in 78% of UK towns
With residents with no religion at 43%, Chard is ahead of 67% of UK towns on that count. Households without a car or van are more common here than in nearly two thirds of UK towns. There were 6,349 households in the town at the 2021 Census, home to 14,287 residents. In Chard, 32% of households are one person living alone.
+11% since 2011, a pace 66% of UK towns didn’t match
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Chard’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 13,100 people in 2011; 14,600 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+21%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (−6%). The steepest year was mid-2012 to mid-2013, up 230 people.
Chard ranks above 65% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 24%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: 7.1% of residents. The usual figure: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. More residents aged 15 to 24 than in 61% of UK towns: 10%. In South Petherton, the oldest of Somerset’s towns by this measure, it is 35%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Chard, 44.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer full-time students than 88% of UK towns: 3.8%
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
In Chard, one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier, beside 11% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%.
Households with dependent children make up 26% in Chard, less than in 64% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Somerset’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
The average household has 2.2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. As a reference point, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults: 3.1% of the total.
Chard: 25% of households live in a terraced house, above 69% of UK towns
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
27% of households live in a detached house (England’s towns: 21%). The wider picture: 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
In Chard, 12% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 79% of UK towns
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
18% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns. The census found that 92% of residents have English as their main language in Chard.
Only 88% of residents describe themselves as White British in Chard
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 88% of Chard · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (8.5%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and African (0.6%). Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are scarce here: 49%, fewer than in 53% of UK towns.
34% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a share 58% of UK towns don’t reach
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
45% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns. The share of adults who have never married across England’s towns is 39%. The census found that 9% of residents give unpaid care in Chard.
20% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Chard counts 20% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 22% have no qualification (18%).
165th oldest of 360 UK towns of 10,000 to 19,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Chard in age: Worsley (44.5), Amersham (44.5), Ivybridge (44.5) and Cobham (44.6).
No nearby town is as young as Chard
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Somerset’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Somerset (or England), summed the same way as Chard’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Chard’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 14,287 people in 2021, against 14,287 in the built-up area.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Chard’s residents
What is the population of Chard?
The 2021 Census counted 14,287 people in Chard’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 14,600 people in mid-2024, 11% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Chard?
The median age was 44.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 50% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chard?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chard?
43% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Chard good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Chard’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.